CUTGroup Week 2

We are back again for week 2 of CUTGroup recruitment, and this time we were in midtown Detroit getting the word out about the biggest thing in civic tech in Detroit. It was an interesting experience that contrasted sharply with our time in Southwest Detroit. We kicked it off by connecting with partners and peers who are located in midtown. Detroit Future City, Detroit Creative Corridor Center were some of the organizations we reached out and they demonstrated an interest in being promoters of the project in the area. However, most of the entities in the arts center midtown area were indifferent to the cause. We moved from the Grand River Blvd through to Wayne State University’s campus to reach out to more people and organizations.

Unfortunately we could not recruit on Wayne State’s campus as it would be considered solicitation (although ironically we are paying people for their time) which they don’t allow without permission from the “higher-ups”. As Wayne State proved difficult to reach we moved on to Woodward to reach a couple of non-profits and community based organizations located there.

As a side note, we were walking for the majority of the recruitment time in the blazing heat. It didn’t help that Ivoire was trying to be strong and not keep hydrated, so we had to be on standby to catch him if he fainted. Jokes aside, we managed to drop of some fliers at some of the organizations in the midtown Brush Park and Cass Park areas.

We had to take a brief lunch break (in consideration of Ivoire’s situation) and from there headed to Wayne State where we had parked. There were places that were in midtown but were out of walking range that we planned on connecting with. It was already after 3pm and we wanted to wrap it up before we all fell victim to the Itis. After roughly 30mins of driving and getting lost, we finally delivered fliers to most of the stops we planned on reaching.

What were the lessons learned this week? Well, one the big things is that we need to memorize our license plate numbers so we can park without worrying about tickets because the city is handing them out like fliers. We got a ticket for being a few minutes over the time and we couldn’t pay over the app because no one knew the license plate number of the car we were using. So memorize your license plates people. Secondly, we are not as hardcore as we thought we were. Walking around midtown is no joke. As I write this blog my heels are still recovering from all that walking. We also decided that we need to be proactive in reaching out to organizations well ahead of time so they are more receptive to us when we show up and talk to them about CUTGroup Detroit. Our street team was also pivotal in making week two of recruiting successful. We thank them for all the effort they put in.

Be on the lookout Downtown Detroit because we are coming your way week three! Have a great week everyone, and keep walking with us on this journey.